


Push & Pull

by Anonymous



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - High School, Curses, M/M, Magic, Major Original Character(s), Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Pack Dynamics, Pack Family, Soul Bond, Takes place in the United States, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-19 16:35:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16538243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Moving to a new town sucked. Especially since Luke's parents were literally telling him absolutely nothing about why they needed to move, especially right before his 16th birthday. He hated that they were making him leave his entire life behind in Australia and going to an entirely different country.But soon, he realizes that there was a good reason for the move, and that there were a lot of secrets his family hadn't been telling him.--discontinued & incomplete--





	1. Minnesota

"Luke, please stop overreacting," his mom sighed, "Aren't you excited to see your brothers again?"

"We have literally no reason to be moving to America! Americans are the worst, they're arrogant and rude and-"

"Luke! We're already on the plane, for the love of God." His dad complained, rubbing his temples. 

"Sweetie, we promise that there's a good reason for this, and it'll all make sense soon," his mother reassured him, but Luke didn't reply, instead choosing to put in his earbuds and drown out her words with his music. 

-

"Jesus Christ, this place is cold," was the first thing out of Luke's mouth as they walked out of the airport, waiting on the curb for their ride to their new home. There was snow  _everywhere_ , and Luke could see his breath in the air. Wasn't snow supposed to be beautiful? 

"Luke Robert, watch your language," his dad warned, but there was no harshness in his tone. 

"Seriously, Australia to this? Are you sure we're in Minnesota and not Antarctica?" 

"You'll get used to it," a stranger had suddenly appeared, wearing a literal t-shirt and basketball shorts. _What the fuck, I'm surrounded by crazy people already_ , Luke thought to himself.

"Isaac, it's so good to see you!" Luke's mom apparently knew this stranger, and was embracing him in a large hug.

"You as well, Mrs. Hemmings. Ashton's just over there, but we realized we didn't have your cell number to call you," the stranger and his parents entered into a conversation, walking towards the SUV parked a few cars behind where they were waiting. Luke followed at a distance, making sure to stay a few feet behind on purpose. 

Isaac, the stranger, helped Luke's dad put the suitcases in the boot of the car, while Luke chose to follow his mom and climb in. _Bless God, it's heated._

"Hiya!" the driver greeted very enthusiastically, turning to face them, "You must be Luke, I'm Ashton." 

Luke didn't reply, turning his head to face the window in disinterest. 

-

Luke underestimated how far away his new home was from the airport, because the following car ride took over three hours, and that was the part that Luke was awake for. Both his parents had been asleep for much longer than he had, exhausted from the travel, so they didn't have to bear witness to Isaac and Ashton bickering in the front over the music.

"The radio is fine, Isaac, please just leave it alone."

"As the passenger, I am the designated DJ of this vehicle. Your job is to keep your eyes on the damn road. I am taking control of this AUX, and there is literally nothing that you can do to stop me."

"I can pull this vehicle over, don't tempt me."

"What do you have against Panic! at the Disco, Ash, seriously?" Isaac whined.

"It's all you've been playing for the past three weeks, and I'm sick of it."

At this point, Luke's phone had died, so there was literally nothing he could do to drown out their dispute. And sadly, Isaac had spun around at this point, Luke accidentally making eye contact with him.

"Luke, you pick: Panic! or some country shit."

"God, anything but country," he replied quickly, and Ashton groaned.

-

They were in the middle of literal nowhere when they reached their destination. Like, they were literally in the woods, and the road ahead of them had a locked gate with a large "No Trespassing!" sign on it. Ashton had parked the car to go unlock said gate, but Luke felt like he was about to be murdered. This was how most horror movies go, don't they?

But as they drove another mile down the road, buildings started to pop up here and there. More specifically, multiple large cabins, and if this wasn't the most ominous shit Luke has ever seen... Well, this was literally the most ominous shit he had ever seen. He felt like a raven was going to suddenly appear and start yelling "Nevermore!" in his face. 

"Alright, this is your stop." Ashton parked the car, hoping out to help with the luggage. Luke slowly climbed out, cringing as his feet sunk into a foot of snow. Following suit, he walked up to the cabin, which had a large wooden plaque that read  _Hemmings_ on it. 

"If you need anything, Ashton and I are just down the road..." Isaac was saying something, but it was more directed to his parents. And then, suddenly, there was the pounding of footsteps running across wood floors, and Luke was being tackled by two very large figures.

"Lukey!" 

"It's been so long!"

His brothers, Jack and Ben, were literally suffocating him, crushing his ribs. 

"Good to see you too," he wheezed, and they finally let him go. 

"Your room is upstairs. Wait till you meet the others, you're going to love the pack," Jack started rambling, and Luke was suddenly being guided up a flight of stairs. In fact, he was dragged through a full house tour, with Ben and Jack talking so much they forgot to give Luke a chance to do anything but listen. 

Finally, finally, he was left alone in his room. It was acceptable. The walls were a light green color, which wasn't his favorite, but it was fine. His bed was already set up, and he had a desk and an empty bookshelf. There were a few boxes of his stuff that was shipped from Australia sitting against the wall that had a window peering out to the backyard, and overall, the whole space just felt alien. Like it didn't really belong to Luke, like he wasn't supposed to be here. At his other house, he had posters and pictures all over the walls, and his stuff had been scattered all over the room. Without many material objects, this room just didn't have that lived-in feel. 

Of course, that would probably change the longer Luke was here, but at the moment he was feeling a bit nauseous. This change was so sudden, and it felt like it was going to take him forever to adjust. One day, just a few weeks ago, Luke had come home to a for-sale sign in his yard, and his parents announced that they were going to pack everything up and go live with Luke's "extended family" in Minnesota. Luke's brothers had moved out there together a few years ago, but Luke had been told at the time a family member was sick and help was needed around the house out there.

There was really no reason that he was here now. In a strange room, in a strange place, in a strange country. As Luke collapsed on his bed, all he wanted was to be back in Australia, to wake up like nothing had changed. 


	2. Secrets

Luke woke up to blinding sunshine peering through the blinds on his window. Groaning, he went to get out of bed, snapping awake when he was hit by the freezing cold. Shivering, he dug through his suitcase and slid on the first sweatshirt he could find, and then grabbed a pair of sweats. 

Walking downstairs, he was met with silence. It was around ten in the morning, according to the clock on the stove, and Luke opened the fridge, grabbing some fruit and plopping down at the kitchen table. 

After eating, he checked his now charged phone, reading a text from his mom saying that they had gone into town to get some necessities, followed by " _If you need anything, Isaac's phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX._ " 

Luke spent the next twenty minutes snooping around his new house, bored out of his mind. He ended up parked on the couch with the television turned to some random channel playing an old movie, with Luke only half paying attention to whatever was on the screen by the time the rest of his family returned from their adventure. He only considered texting Isaac for about two seconds, to be honest, but out of spite he didn't. He kind of felt like his parents were trying to force friendships on him, even if they meant to make his transition easier, but Luke wasn't having it. 

"Luke, we wanted to talk to you for a moment," his mom interrupted his thoughts, sitting down next to him on the couch. His brothers and dad followed into the room, but instead chose to stand around him awkwardly. 

"There's no easy way to say this, but we want you to know why we came here," Dad started, but Luke interrupted him.

"And why couldn't you tell me before you basically forced me onto a plane?"

"Luke, just shut up," Jack snapped, but it wasn't very harsh. 

"You're probably going to freak out, but we promise we're not messing with you," Ben added.

"Get out with it, then," Luke motioned.

"Your ancestors got themselves caught up in something that they shouldn't have, Luke. They messed with a force that they shouldn't have, and it had unimaginable consequences..." his mom trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words.

"Oh my god, are we apart of the mafia?" Luke cried out, throwing his head into the couch. 

"Luke, no. We're cursed," Jack facepalmed.

"Yeah, okay."

"No, seriously, we're cursed," Ben interjected.

"And what exactly is this curse?"

"It's a faerie curse-" Ben tried explaining, and Luke burst into hysterics.

"Please, take this seriously for five seconds," his mother begged, and Luke let his laughter die off.

"Okay, so, we're cursed by faeries. And what exactly is this big bad curse?"

"It's a bit complicated, which is why it's important that you realize this isn't a joke. Every fifth generation in the line of descendants, we're cursed to become shifters at the age of 16," Jack explained, taking a seat on Luke's other side. The atmosphere of the room was a bit eerie at this point, as his parents weren't saying much and everyone had grim expressions. 

"Shifters? Seems shifty," Luke joked, trying to lighten the tone, but no one was playing along.

"Luke, when you turn 16 next week, you'll become a shifter like Jack and I," Ben said.

"And because we're the fifth generation or whatever, mom and dad aren't shifters?" he asked.

"Exactly." Jack nodded. 

"Right. And, what exactly is a shifter?" 

"Well, it's easier to show you," Ben explained, taking a few steps back from Luke before his whole body began to tremble. 

"Woah, are you oka-" Luke started, but let out a screech as instead of his older brother, a large blond wolf stood in front of him. He could feel the animal's heavy breath on his face, could see saliva glistening on its sharp canines. And then, one split second later, the wolf began to tremble, transforming back into his brother in a split second.

"Do you understand, now?" Jack questioned, placing a hand on Luke's shoulder. Luke, pale as a ghost, made a move to stand, but collapsed immediately, passing out.

"I think that went pretty well," Ben stated. 

-

"I'm a wolf?!" Luke screamed. He had woke up in his bed, with both his brothers sitting on the end of it, waiting for him. 

"In a sense," Jack said grimly.

"What the hell did our ancestors do?"

"Well, they taunted some faeries in the woods, which is never a good idea, by the way. They're trickster spirits that know how to hold a grudge," Jack said.

"Right, so, now what? I'm just going to transform into a big dog on the full moon?"

"Not exactly. The full moon doesn't really impact us. We're not werewolves, we're shifters. There's different types of shifters, that transform into different animals, we just ended up being wolves," Ben replied.

"What about Isaac? Ashton? What's their deal?" 

"They're also wolf shifters, but we're not related to them. Same curse, though. There's also a ton of rules that shifters have to follow, and we're regulated by this council, and that council demands that shifters live in packs so that we're easily to regulate. We also have pack laws that are separate from those rules, but you'll have time to learn them, I promise," Jack assured. 

"Alright... How big is this pack?"

"In comparison to other shifter packs, we're pretty average. Let me think... There's Ashton, Isaac, Calum, Michael, Mali Koa, and Andrew. And then there's us, and soon to be, you." Ben counted on his fingers as he listed the names. 

"That's a lot of guys," Luke remarked.

"Yeah, but you'll love them, we promise," Jack said, giving him a big smile, "it'll be like your second family."

 


	3. Academia

"Wait, I still have to go to school? Seriously?" Luke whined, his older brothers both chuckling.

"You'll be fine, honey." Luke's mom handed him his backpack, "Also, you'll be carpooling with Ashton every day, the school is a bit of a drive from here."

"Fantastic," Luke sighed, resorting to eating his cereal in silence. About ten minutes later, after his brothers and parents had left for their jobs downtown, there was a knock on the door.

He opened it to see Isaac smiling wide, holding a plastic bag in his hands. 

"You ready?" the older teen asked, and Luke nodded, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. 

"Before we go, I got you these," Isaac handed him the plastic bag, "sorry it's not wrapped."

Opening it, Luke was met with a couple of different-colored assorted flannels.

"I know it's a lot colder here than what you're used to, and the clothes here are actually made to keep you warm instead of a fashion statement, and I figured you haven't had a chance to get much shopping done yet."

"Thanks, Isaac, I appreciate it," Luke admitted, at a loss for words. There wasn't much point in being cold towards him anymore, especially since he was apart of the pack and they would need to get along eventually.

"C'mon, it takes about forty minutes to drive to school when the roads are good, so we should get going."

Isaac jumped into the passenger side of Ashton's SUV, leaving Luke to hop into the back. What he wasn't expecting was there to be another person sitting in the back. He was Asian American, wearing flannel and jeans (like literally every else in the car), and was typing something on his phone. 

"Hey there! I'm Andrew," he introduced, giving Luke a friendly wave, "you're a sophomore, right?"

"I have no clue what that means," Luke replied.

"It means you're in tenth grade, which you are. Both Ashton and I are seniors," Isaac explained while he connected his phone to the AUX. 

"I'm asking 'cause I'm a sophomore too, which means we'll have classes together."

"Iz, where's Luke's schedule?" Ashton asked, and Isaac began rifling through his bag. 

"Uh, here you go. We signed you up for foods for your elective space, if you don't mind. It's an easy class and you get to eat, but if you'd rather take wood shop it wouldn't be hard to switch you out." Isaac handed him the piece of paper.

"How many electives are there?" 

"Not that many, sadly. All of your core classes are literally with the same people, our school is super small. Which, warning, makes everyone super nosy about everyone else's business. You'll have to be super careful once you start shifting to make sure there's no one else around when you do it. Pack law says only the pack can know about shifters, no outsiders allowed," Andrew explained. 

"People like Andy's girlfriend," Isaac said, his tone suddenly extremely sour.

"Dude, stop, we've talked about this," Andrew snapped, slapping Isaac's arm. The atmosphere in the car changed suddenly, and Isaac spun around in his seat, a low growl forming in his chest.

"Isaac-" Ashton warned, "red sky in the morning..."

Isaac calmed down a bit with Ashton's words, turning slowly to face the front again. 

"Iz has a stick up his ass because he thinks that I shouldn't be in a relationship with a human girl," Andrew whispered to Luke. 

"Andrew, please," Ashton cautioned, watching Isaac from the corner of his eye. Of course, there was more to the story than just that, but the two sophomores weren't privy to that yet. 

The rest of the car ride was in awkward silence, the only noise the soft music playing from the car's stereo. 

"Alright, we're here. Andy will help you find your class, I need to talk with Isaac for a second."

The two underclassmen climbed out of the car, walking through the parking lot and into the school. There were students chatting in the hallway, people laughing and joking with their friends. Someone had waved Andrew over, and Luke couldn't really do anything but follow, not wanting to get lost.

"Hey Drew! Who's this?" a dark blond-haired boy asked. Again, wearing a flannel and jeans. Luke was going to be drowning in flannel in this town. 

"This is Luke Hemmings," Andrew replied, putting emphasis on his last name. The other boy's eyes widened, and he turned to Luke with a smile.

"Hi, I'm Michael, I also live in the enclave," he introduced, lowering his voice to say that last part.

"That's code for pack," Andrew whispered in his ear, further clarifying Luke's assumptions.

"Did you drive here separately?" Luke asked, and Michael shrugged.

"In a sense. Calum wanted to go for a run this morning, and Isaac was sulking so Ashton insisted he ride with you guys."

"Where is Cal?" Andy wondered, searching through the crowd of students.

"You pissed Isaac off in the car, didn't you? He got a text from Ash asking for help calming him down," Michael replied, giving the black-haired boy a pointed look.

"I don't understand why he has to be like this every damn time we talk about Natalia," Andrew whined, "Can you walk Luke to his first class? I kinda want to find her."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Michael brushed him off, watching him leave.

"Want to know a secret?" Michael turned to Luke, smiling mischievously.

"Sure?"

"Okay, so, I'm not supposed to know this, but I accidentally found out anyways. Now, Andy doesn't know this because he hasn't shifted yet, so you  _cannot_ tell him, promise?"

"Promise."

"Isaac's wolf is like, in love, with Drew," Michael whispered conspiratorially. 

"His... wolf?" 

"It'll make a bit more sense once you shift and feel what it's like, but your wolf is kinda like... an extension of yourself. It has its own thoughts and emotions, a bit similar to a gut instinct?" Michael tried to explain.

"How does a gut instinct equate to love?"

"It's called a soul bond. They'll teach you all about pack dynamics soon, but soul bonds are extremely rare. It's basically finding your soulmate," Michael answered.

"So, how come Andrew doesn't know about it? Shouldn't someone tell him?"

"Isaac doesn't want to force it on him, since right now the bond is only half-complete, I think is the word they used for it? They're all waiting for Andrew to shift so he'll understand it better. But Isaac is being a real pain in the butt lately, because Andrew started dating this bitch Natalia. And trust me, she's an actual bitch. Soul bonds are also super complicated things, and from what I've heard the last thing you want is to have one. Hope to god you don't get one when you first shift."

"Great," Luke said quietly.

"And, this is us. Sophomore English," Michael had been guiding Luke through the halls, and they had stopped outside of the classroom, "after you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pack members and info about them:  
> -Michael, 16, has shifted  
> -Isaac, 17, has shifted  
> -Ashton, 18, has shifted  
> -Ben, Jack, & Mali Koa (all graduated, all have shifted, spend most of their time at their jobs)  
> -Luke, 15, has not shifted  
> -Andrew, 15, has not shifted  
> -Calum, 16, has shifted
> 
> also for story's sake Luke's birthday is in winter thx


	4. Calum

The English teacher, Mr. Larson, stood at the front of the room, taking attendance.

"Everyone, we have a new student, if you haven't noticed. Mr. Hemmings, if you could stand and introduce yourself, please."

Awkwardly standing up from his desk, Luke waved to the class. "Hi, I'm Luke, I'm from Sydney, Australia."

A few girls giggled at his accent, but otherwise there wasn't much of a reaction. The teacher thanking him, Luke sat back down.

"Now, does anyone know where Calum Hood could possibly be at?" Mr. Larson questioned, people glancing around the room. Luke noticed the empty desk beside him, assuming that was where the absent boy was supposed to be sitting.

"I saw him earlier in the parking lot, with Ashton and Isaac Irwin," a random guy blurted out. 

"Right. Everyone, if you could pull out your assigned reading and start working on that. Mr. Clifford, please help our guest catch up on where we are, I'll be right back."

"Mr. Larson has it out for Calum, a lot of the teachers do," Michael, sat on Luke's other side, explaining.

Andrew turning around in his seat that was in front of Luke, sighed, "literally all the teachers have it out for people that live in the enclave. We have family emergencies a lot, and they retaliate for all our absences by punishing us at every chance that they get."

"Looks like I have a lot to look forward to." Seriously, Luke had a hard enough time in school paying attention and learning, he didn't need teachers that know how to hold a grudge on top of that.

"Pst, Luke, right?" a guy a few seats in front of Luke said. Literally none of the class was actually doing their reading or whatever, people had their books open but were all eavesdropping on each other's side conversations. 

"Yeah?"

"How come you came all the way here from Australia? You know this place sucks, right?"

"I'm aware," Luke replied.

"The name's Brody. And, just a heads up, you should be more careful who you associate yourself with. Those two that you're talking to are bad news," Brody eyeballed Michael and Andrew when he said this. 

"Yeah, like you're any better than the rest of us," Michael scoffed.

"Shut it, Clifford."

At that moment, the doorknob clicked, and everyone directed their eyes back to their books as Mr. Larson re-entered the classroom. 

-

Calum was absent from class the rest of the morning, causing Luke's friends to feel uneasy. Following Michael and Andy to the cafeteria, it seemed their usual table was tucked away in one of the far corners. Pulling his lunch from his bag, he began silently munching on his food, when he saw Ashton, Isaac, and another guy walk down the steps into the cafeteria.

"Isaac looks like shit," Andy commented, and Michael sent Luke a pointed look. 

The trio made their way over to the table in the corner, plopping down into their seats.

"Calum, nice of you to show up," Michael sassed, and Calum gave him a weak smile. Taking him in, Luke first thought was that Calum looked exhausted. His second thought that he was kind of beautiful, but he shut that down quickly.

"Luke, it's nice to meet you, you can call me Cal," Calum said to him softly. 

"Where've you been all morning dude?" Andrew shoved Cal's shoulder lightly. 

"Helping Ashton," he replied curtly, pulling a sandwich out of his lunch bag and digging in, "pack business."

Looking over at Ashton, Luke noticed that the senior looked equally exhausted, more so than he did earlier this morning when he had been driving them to school.

"Andrew, we're having a pack meeting after school, in the parking lot," Ash said, tone serious, "immediately after school."

"Seriously? Isaac, what the fuck?" Andy said through gritted teeth.

"There's no need to jump to conclusions," Michael interjected, but Andrew cut him off.

"No, I'm sick of him trying to dictate my personal life when it's not his place. You're not the alpha, so frankly, I don't give a damn about what you think, Iz. Leave me the hell alone," Andrew practically growled, making a move to stand when Ashton grabbed the sophomore's arm and shoved him back into his seat.

"He may not be alpha, but I am, and you apologize to him right now," Ashton snapped, eyes flashing red. 

While all of this was happening, Luke was kind of internally freaking out. He barely knew these guys and he was already knee-deep in their drama and personal shit. Really hecking confused about what was going on, he was terrified when Ashton's eyes changed color. 

"Your commands don't work on me," Andrew whisper-shouted at Ash, "and I'm not sorry. I'm going to go sit with Natalia." Andrew stood again, and this time, no one stopped him. 

Isaac had been staring at the table the entire time, not saying a word. He just looked... dejected.

"Izzy, you need to eat something," Calum said, trying to hand him an apple. Making no motion to take it, Isaac continued to stare at the table.

"You haven't eaten in almost two days, please," Calum said more insistently, shoving the apple closer to Isaac's face, as if that would do something.

"How do you all feel about skipping the rest of the day?" Ashton suddenly asked, surprising Luke.

"Even me?" Luke questioned, and Ashton nodded.

"Won't my mom get mad?"

"She can't, not if you're with me," he replied, and that seemed like flawed logic, but okay. Skipping on his first day seemed appropriate if the teachers likely weren't going to like him anyways.

"Let's roll," Ash proclaimed, and everyone packed their bags, grabbing their trash and throwing it out. Ashton had flung an arm around Isaac's shoulders, clearly dragging the other senior alongside him.

Climbing into Ashton's car, Luke hopped into the backseat with Calum and Michael. 

"How's Andrew going to get home?" he whispered to the two.

"Jack or Ben will pick him up after work," Cal whispered back.

"Where are we going?" Mike asked.

"The pack house."

"Really?!" Michael seemed excited at the prospect of this, and Calum laughed.

"The pack house is usually off-limits to non-shifters," Michael explained to Luke, who nodded along. 

They drove back to the enclave, the atmosphere not as tense as Luke had expected it to be. Most of the ride was spent in comfortable silence, but Luke couldn't help the feeling of being stared at. When he would look, he would always find Calum's eyes watching him intently, but quickly looking away every time they made eye contact. 

Once they got to the enclave, everyone climbed out of the car, and started moving in the general direction of the woods. 

"Mike, would you be cool with walking with Luke while the rest of us shift?" 

"Yeah, that's fine."

Taking a running start, Calum zipped past the group, suddenly leaping like he was going to take a dive at the ground, but suddenly he was landing on all four paws. An all-black wolf, Luke's breath was momentarily taken away. He couldn't imagine getting used to this, getting used to the concept of shifters.

Ashton, being just as dramatic, lunged at the ground, shifting into a rustic red-colored wolf. Luke took note of how much larger Ash's wolf was in comparison to Cal's. 

Isaac, however, took no running leap. He simply started walking a few feet before shifting. And when he did, it took Luke's breath away, but not in a good way. His coat was dull, and Luke couldn't tell if his fur was supposed to be red or brown because of it. Luke could clearly see Isaac's rib cage and spine, the sight making Luke feel nauseous. 

Ashton and Calum took off running, with Isaac following behind at a light trot. About a minute later, they were out of sight.

"Isaac's dying," Michael said, likely taking note of the look of shock still present on Luke's face. 

"Why? Is that because of the soul bond thing?" 

"Yeah. Here, I'll explain while we walk, it's a bit of a hike to the pack house."

-

"Shouldn't someone tell Andrew?"

"Ashton really wants to, but Isaac is convinced that Andy will just hate him more," Mike sighed, looking up at the sky.

"Why is he like that? Isaac, his weight or whatever?"

"Ash calls it Rejection. There's a section about it in our lore book, it's this really nasty thing. It happens with people with soul bonds, if their affections are unrequited. Isaac wasn't always like that. When he first shifted, the bond was fine. Him and Andrew had been best friends since they were kids. And, not every bond is romantic, usually they just start out as platonic. But, as Isaac's explained it to me, it's hard to not 'fall in love with the person that grounds you to the universe.' I guess he started acting differently around Andrew, and Drew just ended up pushing him away, which is when Isaac started having trouble eating. You need to have some sort of relationship, romantic or not, with your bond mate, or you start to go through Rejection," Michael explained.

"How did he act differently?"

"Well, Isaac didn't want Andrew to know that he was in love with him, so he started being really secretive about pack stuff. Drew thought Isaac was treating him like an irresponsible child, and lashed out at him a lot. Nothing Isaac could say could change his mind. Andy didn't start dating Natalia until a few months ago. That's when things started getting really bad. That's when I found out about the soul bond, because I found Isaac puking blood in the school bathroom."

"Jesus." Luke was speechless, not really sure what to say.

"That's why I don't want a soul bond. Seems like a really nasty thing to have. And, even if I think Andrew should know about the bond, it's not my place to say. Before you ask, it's gotten to the point where Isaac doesn't want Andy to feel the guilt. On a different note, are you excited to shift? Your birthday is in a few days," Mike pointed out.

"Honestly, I'm a bit nervous. Does it hurt?"

"Not at all. Any other questions?"

"What happens to your clothes, when you shift?"

"To be honest, I don't really know the answer to that one. You can shift with them on and when you shift back they'll be intact. If we were werewolves, they would rip because they shift naturally, but we shift with magic so it's different for us. I hope that makes sense"

"Not really, but it's fine," Luke chuckled. 


	5. Rejection

Luke wasn't really sure what he expected when it came to the pack house. It was just a small cabin, nothing too grandiose. He could see smoke coming out of its chimney, and shivered, looking forward to the heat. He seriously didn't think he could ever get used to this cold. 

Following Mike inside, and kicking his shoes off and leaving them by the door, the others already inside. Calum was in the small kitchen, cooking something on the stove, while Ashton was pacing in the living room, a leather-bound book in his hands. Isaac was laying on the couch, looking sickly pale. 

"I'm making pasta, do you guys want some?" Cal asked, and Luke declined the offer. Following Michael into the living room, he sat down on a chair that was next to the couch. He made eye contact with Isaac, which Luke regretted. His eyes were completely blank, as if the older boy was absent. There was no pain, he just looked... numb. And it scared Luke more than anything. 

"Whatcha reading?" Mike asked Ashton, interrupting Luke of his thoughts.

"I'm reading the lore on Rejection," Ash replied quietly, as if not to disturb Iz. 

"The lore book has all the information about our curse, all its details and that kind of stuff," Calum explained, sitting down on the couch by Isaac's feet, holding a bowl in his hands.

"I made you this," Cal said to the motionless figure, who didn't even register someone was speaking to him.

"He wasn't like this this morning," Luke noted.

"It's because Andrew freaked out at him in the car and at lunch. It messes with his wolf," Mike said.

"Isaac," Ashton said, putting the book down and getting close to the other shifter, eyes flashing red. "I order you to eat." 

Slowly sitting up, motions robotic, Isaac took the bowl from Calum's hands, slowly chewing on the pasta. 

The next few hours were spent with Ashton reading the lore book in silence, while Calum, Michael, and Luke went off to another room and talked about non-pack related things. Music, how they liked to spend their downtime, etc. It was nice to have friends so quickly after his move, Luke realized, even if he was opposed to the idea at first. He also found that he had a lot in common with the two, particularly Cal. There was just something about the raven-haired boy that attracted Luke to him, and he kept having intrusive thoughts about how attractive he was.

Which, Luke had figured for a long time that he was gay, but he didn't need those thoughts right now. Calum was most likely straight, and he didn't want to make him uncomfortable with his weird gay thoughts. They were stuck together as a pack, and Luke didn't need to screw things up in the first week of knowing these people. Besides, everyone was concerned about Isaac right now, so even if there was a possibility that Calum might not be 100% straight, the atmosphere of the group was not well-suited for relationships. 

Suddenly, Luke's phone started going off in his pocket. Fishing it out, the caller ID saying it was his mom, he answered it. 

"Hello?"

_"Where are you right now? Why do I have a voicemail from your school saying you skipped half of your classes?"_

"I'm with Ashton and some of the others at the pack house. He said that it would be fine."

_"It is this time, but next time you better tell me when you plan on ditching. And, this better not become a regular occurrence."_

"Yes, mom."

-

Walking back with Calum and Michael to his house, they were met with a peeved Andrew when they got to the general clearing that all their houses were centered around. 

"Where the hell have you guys been? Do you know how annoying it is to get a text from Ben saying that he's picking me up from school after I have to deal with you guys suddenly ditching after lunch."

"Maybe if you hadn't been such a dick to Isaac, we wouldn't have had to ditch," Michael sassed.

"Again, talking about Isaac. Why is the focus on him so much lately?" Andy groaned.

"Because he's dying, god," Luke finally had it, and Andrew gaped at him.

"What? Dying?!"

"Luke-" Calum warned, but Luke cut him off.

"Sorry, but you're all being dumb about this. Andrew, I think you should have an honest talk with Isaac, and stop accusing each other for literally two minutes. He's at the pack house, I suggest heading over there now if you truly care about him."

Andy didn't wait to hear the rest of what Luke had to say, taking off towards the woods.

"You might get in trouble for doing that," Mike warned.

"Someone had to do something. There's literally no excuse to cause this much pain at this point. Isaac shouldn't die before Andrew even gets the chance to give him a chance. Seriously," Luke sighed, "I'm going to go unpack some more. See you guys tomorrow."

-

When Luke woke up the next morning, it was to being shaken away by his brother Jack.

"Dude, Ashton wants to talk to you, get up."

"Am I in trouble?" he asked immediately.

"Depends on what you did."

Going downstairs, Ashton was sat alone at the kitchen table, sipping on a cup of coffee. Sitting down across from him, Luke felt nervous, especially since it was just the two of them. 

"It wasn't your place to tell Andrew about the soul bond," was the first thing the alpha said, setting his mug down.

"Technically, I just said he needed to have a serious talk with Isaac."

"You told him Isaac is dying," Ashton pointed out.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked for the second time since waking up.

"No, luckily, things worked out in your favor. It will take some time, but Andy and Isaac are on the way to repairing their relationship. However, this could have ended very badly for the both of them. If Andrew had gotten mad at Isaac for hiding this from him, it could have made the Rejection progress more rapidly. We were waiting until Andy shifted so he would be able to feel it too, be able to understand it better," Ash explained.

"Well, it didn't seem like Isaac had time to wait," Luke noted.

"Luke, as your pack alpha, I need you to understand that this time was an exception. In the future, you should respect the wishes of your pack mates if they do not want to share certain information with the others. That's an order, you understand? There will be serious consequences in the future if you don't respect my orders."

"I understand."

"And Luke, I also want to say thank you. Isaac, while we're not related, is like a little brother to me. I've been trying for months to figure out how to make his Rejection less painful for him, but I should have realized sooner that I was only making things worse the longer we kept Andy in the dark. You helped saved his life, and I am very grateful for that. Now, there's one more thing I'd like to talk to you about. Tomorrow, as you know, is your 16th birthday, and you will shift for the first time."


End file.
